Harrow Opera

The story began in January 1971 when Oliver Broome started Harrow Opera Workshop as a class of the then Harrow College of Further Education, working in a small classroom with eight students. In March 1973 the group ventured into its first production. We performed Act 1 of Delibes Lakme and Act 2 of Donizettis LElisir DAmore with piano accompaniment... at the Harrow College of Technology and Art (now the University of Westminster). The following year we staged Purcells Dido & Aeneas and Lortzings The Opera Rehearsal. Since then full productions, usually with orchestra have been given nearly every year. We have frequently explored the lesser known repertoire. Following our production of Offenbachs Daphnis & Chloe in 1976, BBC Radio invited the company to record the work, and broadcasted it twice. In fact Offenbach has proved a popular composer. Robinson Crusoe in 1995 was the sixth of his works staged by us. This production was directed by Bill Bankes-Jones of English National Opera who created a magical entertainment with just 25 performers and 25 chairs. However, we have not neglected the mainstream repertoire and included in the list are popular works such as Mozarts The Magic Flute & The Marriage of Figaro; Verdi's Falstaff & La Traviata and Strauss' Die Fledermaus. Our most recent production have included: Tales of Hoffmann (Offenbach), Albert Herring (Britten), Carmen (Bizet) and Don Giovanni (Mozart).Read More